documenting my nth attempt to be fit

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I went out for my 30 minute run this afternoon and I didn’t really do well AT ALL. I had hoped to break the 4km mark at each run but today, I couldn’t. I managed to eke out a measly 3.82 km. It’s embarrassing, I know but I just couldn’t go any faster! I think it has something to do with the heat. I swear, it was so hot, I wanted to just strip off all my clothes and jump into the ocean. It was THAT kind of hot. According to a weather website I follow on Facebook, the high today was 27C. Blooming heck! Pfft. (Of course, my sister up in Auckland runs at lunch time and her average pace is 5 minutes and about 30 seconds per kilometer – yes, I’m a sloth).

Oh well … i take solace in the fact that i still did 30 minutes of (mildly pathetic) running, which is better than no running at all.

So today, I went out for another 30 minute run. I’m still quite unable to run the whole lot (even half non-stop, I can’t do … yet), but I honestly can feel my strides are somewhat stronger and I don’t huff and puff as much. I think my main challenge is not about overcoming physical barriers, but crossing MENTAL ones. I can feel that my body can still perform … can still run longer, but my brain is saying “Whoa! It’s hot you need to have a drink.” or “You’ve already done 12 minutes, you can now rest and walk.” So … I need to fight those. Good luck to me.

I figured out the difference between Average Speed and Average Pace now. Speed is for something with wheels (like a bike), whereas average pace is for mortals such as me.

I’ll go out again tomorrow. Yes, it’ll be warm again, but I plan to prepare for the heat this time. I will drink lots of water during the day (to make sure I don’t feel dehydrated) and I will ignore the little voice in my head telling me that it’s too darn warm. I also found my armband, which is great because that means I can be hands free. Not having the phone in my hand would mean I wouldn’t be tempted to keep checking how much time I have left to complete in my “workout”.

I also plan to do just 30 minute runs this week (and I hope to be able to have an average of at least 4.20 km. After this week, I intend to go point to point – instead of by time. Which means, If I have to go longer than 30 minutes, I will. I’ve already established where my start and end points will be.

I ran again yesterday (wow! 2 days in a row!). Just 30 Minutes but I covered a bit more kms than the previous run. Have broken the 4km / 30 minute barrier – however, the average between the 2 runs is still below 4km (just! 3.98 if I’m not mistaken).

I’m not running tonight nor will I run tomorrow – I had a deep tissue massage and I’ve read that I should rest at least 24 hours after a deep tissue massage. I plan to run again on Sunday – perhaps do 45 minutes (I need a long run).

So last Sunday, I joined Wellington’s Round the Bays event. I had hoped to finish the 6.5km fun run in less time than when I did it in 2014 but – sadly, I came in a little over 2 minutes over my best time. 😦 I’m slightly gutted but I can’t blame anyone but myself really – since:

I stopped “training” in November (when the quake hit the Capital)

I went overseas (with my partner) for 2 weeks (didn’t run there)

When I came back I became busy with year-end and January work changes

Of course there was this big event on January 29

Followed immediately by a 2-week holiday in the South Island

and then I got sick from Thursday (16th Feb) until 2 pm after the race finished.

I guess it’s not really bad ….

Anyway – went for a 30-minute afternoon run yesterday and man it was scorching hot! According to SHealth:

No stretching nor runs for me for the past 2 days (14 and 15 November).

Had a massive earthquake on the early hours of the 14th so it really didn’t make sense for me (or anyone for that matter) to go out for a run. Wasn’t able to do floor exercises too – too stressed out and was worried the floor might collapse. 😦

The following day wasn’t great either. It rained incessantly and we still felt a lot aftershocks. The last few days have just been a wee bit stressful for anyone’s liking.

Mother Nature seems to be settling down now so I might be able to go for a 30 minute run tonight. It looks like that’ll be my only window since it’s being forecast that another storm is on it’s way.

Awfully crappy long run for me today. Yeah I did 45 minutes but man it was a struggle! I think it’s because I’ve had a fairly unhealthy diet the past week. I’ve been munching on chocolate a lit lately, and have also been drinking a lot of Belgian chocolate drink at work. Plus last night, I had a Burger King burger for dinner. Hmmm … I’ll monitor my intake and see if those food items have affected my psyche today.

Sorry I haven’t posted on the last 2 days. On the 9th we had friends over for dinner. Had to cook and entertain and went to bed at about 10:00 pm. However, even though I was busy, I still managed to do a bit of my floor exercises. Not 3 sets though, just 2 of each because I was tired. So no, I haven’t missed out on any of my exercises yet.

AND then yesterday, someone had a craving for burger so we went out and got that for dinner, then we watched a bit of Hellboy at home. Someone looked exhausted so we just went to bed early. HOWEVER, I still did my short run (HAH! I bet you thought I skipped that!) … while it was drizzling to boot! Here are my stats: